A DIRTY PEARL AS I AM
By
Nickey Teoh
"According to the law, this boy must be executed," the Executioner stressed.
"What?" Lance was furious. "What law are you talking about?" We're the law. And we are the ones who decide what to be done with this lad!"
"True."Executioner Myer cleared his throat. "Then I'm the law, I decide what to be done with the boy."
The court became as silent as grave for a moment. The heated-up argument whether a boy should be given death sentence had turned two good friends against each other.
There. they were all living a dark medieval age, where peasants and merchants roamed the street, where lords and ladies shaped the civilization, and where soldiers patrolled freely around as they were assigned to. There was no law and order. The only law was the person who created it. And the person who created it was the judge of the land, known as the Executioner.
Each land was assigned one Executioner. Through them, the land was given justice, and also sometimes deprived of it. But let;s not go too far about that notion, let's talk about what was about to happen in a court, where a 17-year-old bot was being tried for robbing a merchant. But there was not the worse part. The worst part was he even murdered the merchant which according to the boy, that part was actually unintentional.
Lance was the noble knight of the land. who had served the kingdom faithfully and unceasingly with his whole heart. He battled bandits and rogues throughout the country, becoming the man of the nation's heart, where the peasants highly regarded him a man who cared for the kingdom. Despite his faithful service to the kingdom, he had never once raised a demand of his own from the government despite he truly had the authority to do so. And now, the first time he ever made his demand in this court was to save a boy he just knew, who had committed a serious crime.
The peasants all stood at the entrance of the court, being audiences who were all out approving the execution of a boy, who killed one of their fellow men. But right now, they too had a decision to make, and they were all split, for the man of the nation's heart had chosen to defend the boy, who was being guarded by two soldiers in the center of the court.
"The boy is still young," Lance turned and talked to the crowd. "he has got such a long way to go in his life. Perhaps, he might even live until 50 or 60. All along his life he might even change into a good person and live as one, longer than you could think of." He paused for a moment to glance at the Executioner, who was listening attentively to him."But why execute someone who only does something wrong in one day but can bless others in his lifetime?"
"Lance!" Myer addressed the
veteran knight. "Once again, I have to
remind you again, that we are the law..."
"Correction," Lance interrupted. "You mean, you are the law!"
"Whatever!" Myer was seriously in a dilemma. In his entire career life, the verdicts he made on the convicts had never been so difficult as today's. Lance was the last person he had ever expected to go against his decision. What more, it was so obvious that a person who murdered another person must be executed. It had been like that all the while, right? It had been like that for generations and centuries. If there were a flow in a system like that, wouldn't someone else have raised this matter up long ago? But must such thing occur at this time?
"Look Lance. You know every well that, if we are to lighten this boy's sentence for what he has done, I can tell you to the face, murder cases will increase in this land, because the murderers know that they'll not be punished accordingly to their evil deeds. Simple said, Lance, an eye for an eye, a life for a life!"
Immediately, without wasting any seconds, Lance replied back, "So what? Why do we stay with that way? If a person commits a crime..." He stared at the boy's face which was filled with grief (he knew he was going to die) and hatred (there was no love in his life before this, but now he was beginning to sense some in the eyes of an unlikely ally). "why execute him and rob him of the opportunity to pay back for what he has done? Why not give him the chance to redeem himself by serving others, which will bless others in many other ways?"
The crowd all whispered among themselves. This idea was quite new to them, or maybe some even thought about it before, but alas, it was never easy to change the way of the world.
"Lance, please don't make things difficult for me," Myer said in a soft tone. He knew he had a decision to make , on that involved life and death of a mere boy. If he chose to cancel the death sentence and instead give a prison sentence, he would... perhaps, be a weak judge, for not being courageous enough to provide justice to his people. His name would be become the laughing stock of the people. His name would be sullied just because of a day's act instead of what he had contributed to the justice for 16 years as an Executioner. But yet, if he chose to punish the boy, Lance could be right in his saying that the boy might grow up to be a good man and bless the nation or the people. But...
"Lord Myer, don;t give in to what that man says!" an old lady shouted from the crowd. "That boy killed my brother. He has every right to die since he took my brother's life."
Then the crowd joined in together and in their cries, "Justice will prevail! Justice will prevail!"
Myer was in a pressured situation. Should he please the people, or should he please the one man who had been his close friend for years? But, the people trusted him so much with this case that they hoped he would provide them with the justice they needed?
Ahhh!
"Silent!!!" Myer addressed the crowd, and they obeyed him.
Lance turned to the crowd. "I know nothing can stop you from wanting that boy dead. In fact, I understand that he took your loved one's life. He definitely cannot replace it back."
"No! He can...!" A man with a rough voice shouted from the crowd. "By paying with his own life." Then the crowd joined in supporting the man, "Yeah!"
"But so what?" The crowd silenced down as Lance began to speak. "Can you bring the merchant death back to life by killing that boy? Let me ask, can you?"
No one spoke for a moment, for they knew what Lance said did make sense. But however...
"Sir Lance, this is not your life involved. You won't understand it," the same man replied.
This is not your life involved. This is not your life involved. This is not your life involved.That phrase rang in Lance's head like a bell, giving him much headache. He knew he was not going to convince the crowd because they were right, this was not his life involved. It was not his loved one killed. Lance let out a loud sigh.
Why had he got himself into such a trouble just by truing to bail a boy out of the quicksand which the boy himself stepped into? It was as if he was trapped together with the boy in there, sinking slowly. He had talked to the boy before a few days ago. He tried to recall the conversation that took place in the local prison, where the boy poured out all his heart to him.
The boy was an orphan from young. He had never knew who his parents were. he was adopted by a farmer who took him not actually to become his son, but to become a
wageless labour working in the fields. Of course, he was given food and clothing, but the farmer treated him worse than he treated a buffalo which plowed the field. No need to go too detail about how the father treated him, he just knew that this boy had not known much love since he was young. Being a poor boy, he was known for roaming the streets begging for food, just because his father would not provide him with enough food. Funny, the passers-by treated him like a scum of the society, refusing to help him at all, which he resorted to steal food and money in the end in order to survive. That was how the boy lived for these few years, until the tragic day when he unintentionally killed a merchant while he tried to steal the money.
The society blamed the boy for taking something valuable away from them. But in the first place, the society did not even bother to give the boy what he needed so much - love. Yet they could agree that such boy did not deserve to live. This boy was really brought up in the wrong side of life, but if those self-righteous people had been in his shoes, would their actions differ from his?
Take note this. Then, what was about to happen next would be definitely be written down in the history of the nation, for nothing such as this had happened before.
"Alright, the verdict has been made," Myer proclaimed. He did not want to delay this any longer. The faster he settled this case, the faster he could get a peaceful rest, but would he?
"The boy is guilty of his crime and shall be given a death sentence," Myer continued.
The boy looked down hopelessly. The crowd that supported the boy's execution cheered, shouting, "Wise is Lord Myer!" Some people remained quiet. Part of the crowd dispersed, leaving the court, as the case was already over. What those who left early did not know that they were going to miss the most memorable event that was about to shape the nation's history?
Lance looked at the boy's expression while everyone behind him cheering. The guards began to escort the boy away, who seemed to have lost all hope of living on this earth.
Confusion began to creep into Lance's mind. If he were to settle back into his normal life, admitting he had failed, pretending that nothing had ever happened today, then he would have lived a deceived life. True, this was not his life involved. Why did he want to interfere the way of justice and 'pervert' it? Why not just let it be? Perhaps, he could just live happily ever after if he just pretended nothing had ever happened. No! He must do something! To do something which no one else had ever done before in his nation's history?
"Halt!" Lance addressed everybody. "I've got one request before you carry out the sentence."
The crowd stopped to listen, the guards stopped where they were and Myer turned his ear open. The boy turned to stare at Lance. "Then, tell us your request," Myer said. He was quite relieved because the difficult part of the case had been solved, and that was the decision-making process. But what he did not know was that the next thing would even be a worse part.
"I wish to serve the boy's sentence on his behalf."
That was the reply. It struck everyone like lightning. Everyone seemed puzzled and shocked. The boy's face went from hopeless to puzzled.
"No, Lance. You have no idea what you are talking about. There's no such thing," Myer replied. The fact was he knew there was such thing actually, known as one of the noble rights, to claim a convicted one's crime and serve the sentence that was given by the law. There were few who had actually used this right but none had actually used it to serve other's death sentence. Frankly, no one had!
" Lance, no!" Myer said, disagreeing with what Lance suggested. He knew if he agreed to what Lance proposed, the nation would lost a faithful servant, and he would lost a good buddy. But...
"I'm sorry, Lord Myer." Lance looked firm with his decision. "I'm claiming one of my rights as a noble to serve the sentence of that boy. Right now, the boy is free... and you have to treat me like a criminal."
Myer shook his head. "You're a man who is worth a million to the nation. Why trade your place for a dirty pearl? Our nation will be seriously crippled if we take you away."
"The boy's not a dirty pearl." The moment he said that, the boy's eyes began to fill with tears.
"Just take me, Lord Myer." Lance held both his hands up, as if surrendering to the law. "I'll never have a reasonable and logical explanation if you ask me. Don't talk about making sense here , because what I'm doing now may not be making sense to you, not now at least."
Myer slapped his forehead in despair. Being an Executioner, many times he told himself, whether a friend or not, as long it involved justice, he had got no choice but to carry out what he needed to carry out. This time he was really torn apart. Yet, if he acted according to friendship and pardoned the wrongs that the boy had done, then justice would bear no meaning at all. He believed that, whoever that did something wrong must certainly pay for his deeds. But in this case, someone else was paying for that boy's deeds, and it was his good friend.
Myer let out a long sigh before he finally declared, "Sir Lance, you've been found guilty for the murder of a man. This is definitely not your act, but you've decided to serve the sentence on behalf of the convicted one. Therefore, your title and rank will be stripped immediately." He paused for a while. The next sentence he simply could not blurt it out. Everyone looked at him, as if waiting for him to say something. Alas, what must be done had to be done! "Sir Lance, it's been decided that you'll be serving..." He could hardly make his last words complete. "... the death sentence in 2 day's time." His heart hurt badly. He felt like crying out loud, he just controlled himself. "Is there anything you want to say?" His voice filled with grief and anger at the same time. Grief, because he had just sentenced his friend to death; anger because he could not stop that from happening.
"No," Lance replied calmly. He gave a cold stare at Myer.
No, Lance. Why are you giving me that stare? It's my duty..."Guards, take him to the cell," Myer ordered. The guards cuffed Lance and escorted him to the prison. "Court dismiss." Immediately, he rose up and ran into his private chamber, settled down and cried alone there.
20 years later, barbarian tribes began to invade this kingdom, conquering lands wherever they went, killing whoever they found, looting whatever they saw. Province by province, all one by one fell into their hands, for there was no unity among the people of the kingdom. There was no one warlord that was strong enough to unite the people to fight against enemies. Sadly, even the King and his royal family disguised themselves as civilians during the siege of the capital and fled away. Ever since then, no one had sighted them again. Rumours went by, that they were killed. Some said they were captured bu other kingdom and became slaves there. But the truth is , those royal family was certainly a laughing stock.
6 years after the disappearance of the royal family, there had been on one to the lead the people of this kingdom. Just as this kingdom was about to be wiped out of the world's history, one man stood up and took the challenge. He united his war-weary people and fought back against the barbarian tribes, which was ruling almost more than half of the kingdom. After another 7 years of war, this man completely destroyed all the barbarians and won the war. The people enthroned him as the new king of the land.
And guess what? That man was the 'dirty pearl' whom the legendary Sir Lance died for. And now, he had come back to make Sir Lance's death pay off.
And guess what again? I'm the proud brother of our late Sir Lance, who had witnessed all these events taking place from the court case to the execution of my brother to the invasion of the barbarians to the unification of the kingdom by the man whim my brother rescued. As a historian, it is my duty to write down the important events that happen throughout the course of history. History is merely dates, times and places. It is a story of bravery and heroic deeds. There is always a lesson to be learned in it. Today, I truly understand what sacrifice my brother had made. No , he didn't know that the 'dirty pearl' he rescued would be the one that would save our kingdom from destruction and become the king. But, what he knew was that love and forgiveness could change a person's life. If my brother had not died in the boy's place, our kingdom today would have ceased to exist.
What had happened to the boy after Sir Lance was executed on behalf of him? What happened in the period of 26 years before the boy (now a grown-up man) appeared and led the kingdom to victory? Nobody knows. I seriously believe, the boy certainly didn't stay long in our region. He moved on to other place, because ever since after the court case, I'd never seen that boy's face again until he appeared 26 years later. Did he go back to his old life? Maybe yes, maybe no. But one thing I know for sure is that someone had bought the boy's life with his own, and the boy had suddenly found true love, a sacrificial one. He had wasted his childhood life away, and I was sure after the court case, he worked hard to become good and great man. And certainly, today he is. Sir Lance may be gone, but he definitely remains in the heart of a dirty pearl until today.
Before Sir Lance's execution 32 years ago, he wrote his last journal while he was in the prison cell. It was quite a dramatic one. So I've decided to put it as part of the nation's history, so that thousands more yet to born in the future will come to know the story of a great man that once walked on this earth.
Tomorrow will be a dreadful day. To tell you the truth, I am very afraid right now. Afraid of what tomorrow will bring. I can't imagine myself being hanged on the gallows. For years, I'm the one who brings people to justice and now... I'm about to face what those people faced. Even prison life is bad. It's so cold here. But thankfully, my good buddy, Lord Myer had taken the initiative to provide me with whatever last needs that I need, from a good clothing prison to good food. Also, a pen to write this last journal. He even offered me to escape from the prison and he promised to cover up the whole thing. No, of course, I told him off. As an Executioner, it is his duty to fulfil his responsibility. being careless in his job is another form of wrong doing. I don't want him to lose his job for that. So I rejected his offer. Seriously, I've no idea why I am here. For 24 years serving as a knight in my nation, I brought my many bad guys to justice, punishing for what they deserved. But why this time I had acted so differently? Frankly, I've no idea either. On the night before the boy was tried, I had visited him in his cell. I had asked him many things about his life. It's true that he didn't have a good start in his life. He doesn't know anything about love. All he knows that the world is treating him very badly, something that he doesn't deserve. He knows he's definitely going to lose the nest day's court case. He even regretted doing that crime. He did tell me, that if he ever had a chance to turn back the time and change things, he would be a good person. He told me, he used to believe that the world out there is always all out to get him. But he knew he was only deceiving himself. He spent his lifetime stealing and making other's life miserable. Then he got caught for murdering, his life just suddenly been cut short. Yet if he has taken a different approach to live a different life despite against the odds, he would have lived a longer and more meaningful life. He let out a sigh; his eyes were filled with hopelessness, saying that unfortunately each person had only one life to live. I don't know what struck me that night. Bit one thing for sure, I know is that night I couldn't sleep. I struggled with myself for he night. For 24 years serving as a knight, I may have won a lot of people's heart and favour. To gain popularity, I did my job well by catching bad guys and put them behind bars. But what is that to me? Am I just a selfish man whi wants fame and honour while at the same time, neglecting love to others? I've done so muc just to get fame and be liked that I consider totally useless to me. So what if I'm popular? I still feel empty inside me. I don't know what compelled me to do such a stupid act the next day, or shall i call it an act of sacrifice? The boy's still got a long way to go. I felt like giving up my life instead so that he can live on. Well, that's exactly what I did. That's why I am here. To tell you the truth, if anybody were to ask me to give a logical explanation about why I am willing to die for the boy, I cannot give one. I don't know how to explain. Wait! Is this thing called 'love' which I had been lacking these many years? Is it love? Love sacrifices for the one she loves. Love takes life from own self and breaths in into the one she loves. As I know, for whatever action love does, she can never explain it. And now, I can never explain the actions that I took. Well, whatever it is, I hope the best for the boy. I hope he can hang on to his promise and change his way of life. I hope, one day, he will be a great man, serving and giving to others. That's all I hope. I know I won't see him again before I die. Haha... he'll sure be hiding himself somewhere, refuse to face the people that condemns him so much. But one thing I know and he knows for sure, I NEVER condemn him. He is never a 'dirty pearl'. Well, as I turn on to the final chapter of my life, I'm about to end my journal here. I'm going to keep this journal under that bed, and I wonder who is going to be the finder of my last words.."-Justice punishes those who deserves it, love forgives those who don't deserve it-"
Blessings,Lance Herdy
Hey guys..Thanks to Kok Hong, we are finally able to plan for FRIM!!..it will be on the 2nd weekend of May 2009 (either 9th or 10th May)..Those interested to attend, please confirm your names with me as we need to book the place..No book, No enter..
